1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a transfer device by which liquid developer images are transferred and an image forming apparatus.
2. Related Art
A variety of wet-process image forming apparatuses using a high-viscosity liquid developer in which toner particles of solid components are dispersed in a liquid solvent to develop an electrostatic latent image for visualizing the electrostatic latent image have been proposed. The liquid developer used in the wet-process image forming apparatuses contains liquid carrier of an electrically insulating organic solvent (carrier) such as silicone oil, mineral oil, vegetable oil and solid components (toner particles) dispersed therein. The toner particles are extremely fine, having particle diameters around 1 μm. Using such fine toner particles, the image quality can be made higher in the wet-process image forming apparatuses than in dry-process image forming apparatuses using powder toner particles having particle diameters of about 7 μm. In the image forming apparatus using the liquid developer, an image forming apparatus including a transfer device that transfers liquid developer images on image carriers onto a transfer belt is proposed (for example, see JP-A-2006-71836). In the image forming apparatus using the liquid developer, an image forming apparatus including a transfer unit that transfers liquid developer images that have been transferred onto an image carrier belt onto a transfer material such as paper is proposed (for example, see JP-A-2005-338734). In the transfer device used in the image forming apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2006-71836, a cleaning blade is brought into contact with the transfer belt after transfer to scrape and remove the residual toner and carrier.
However, the liquid developer scraped by the cleaning blade flows along the cleaning blade surface and is collected and the liquid developer accumulated in the contact part between the cleaning blade and the transfer belt surface spreads to the ends of the cleaning blade due to capillary action, and thus, a problem that a band of liquid called a liquid ring is generated and causes image defects such as color contamination and a problem that the liquid developer runs around to the rear side of the transfer belt and the transfer belt slips and unstably drives arise. When sealing members for transfer belt are provided in contact with the end surfaces of the transfer belt for preventing the liquid developer from running around to the rear side of the transfer belt, a problem that the leading end of the sealing member is entangled with the transfer belt due to friction and damaged arises.